HLBR - Hellebore
by ProbablyObsessed
Summary: Team HLBR was a good team. A capable team, made up of more than capable individuals. They weren't the star team of Beacon, that honour belonged to Team STRQ, of course, but they were unquestionably good. They did not shy from challenge. They rose to the occasion. They did everything that was asked of them, and sometimes more. How, then, did it all end up going so terribly wrong?
1. Chapter 1

Hellebore: Chapter 1

"I will not let the prison of destiny hold me in its cold embrace. I, and no other, am the master of my fate!"

There are some moments in life when the real world becomes so crazy that you become detached from reality, take a step back and think, "what the hell am I doing here?"

This was one of the many thoughts going through a young huntresses' mind as she cut a Beowolf clean in two with her massive two-handed glaive. This particular huntress (or, to be more specific, huntress initiate) was named Honeydew Devlin. Not a very common name by any stretch of the word, but then again, the Devlin's were hardly an ordinary family by any sense of the word.

Honeydew, or Honey to her friends, was engaged in a very taxing struggle against a horde of Beowolves. There were several dozens of them, and they were very persistent. Not particularly fearsome individually, but their relentless, primal savagery more than accounted for a lack of tactics or discipline. Honey could slice through two or three of them at once, but it was hardly helping her. Her glaive had a long reach and a fearsome blade, yet it was difficult to swing it so freely when they flocked to her so fast. A Beowolf could easily run most prey down, even if they were in a commercial vehicle. The bastards could run at a fearsome speed when needed. As soon as she managed to cut her way clear of one pack another came bursting through the trees towards her, clearing the field in seconds. Barely a moments pause was afforded to her. Honey wasn't contemplating the likelihood of her death, even though she was inexperienced, alone, and without guidance, she still had her weapon, Aura, Semblance and copious amounts of Dust to see her through the day. Honey was more concerned with the delay this was costing her. She hadn't found a partner yet and she had no idea where the relics may be. She had been held up several times by Grimm and her initiation wasn't going as nearly as smoothly as she wanted it to be.

Thus, as she drove her glaive through the open maw of an approaching Beowolf, her mind was running over the events leading up to her decision in coming here. Her family would probably be laughing at her, if they could see her now, in over her head, messing around with things best left to those who came her with sincerity in their hearts. She was aware that no small part of her came here simply out of spite and pettiness. She would prove them wrong, regardless of how unpleasant an experience it may be. Anything to see that smug look wiped off their faces…

Honey sensed a Beowolf leaping towards her, and, without turning, spun her glaive in a neat semi-circle, slicing the Grimm vertically in half. She twirled her weapon in hand, pirouetting in a clean motion, and her weapon removed three heads clean off their former bodies. The two halves of the falling Grimm hit the ground as she returned her weapon to a natural ready stance. She briefly held down one of the many triggers on the haft, activating the dust infused into the glaive. A sudden flash of light emanated from the weapons fearsome blade as flames erupted over its surface, the metal taking on a reddish hue as she swung it in a blazing crescendo. The three heads thudded to the ground, rolling away like grotesque balls. Focusing her Aura in and throughout the weapon, she channelled sweeping beams of pure energy, concentrated Aura erupting from the weapons bladed edge in a glowing inferno of criss-crossing slashes. Honey twirled her glaive in both hands with practised and instinctive efficiency, the weapon emitting arcs of deadly fire-infused energy all around her. The burning maelstrom of attacks maimed, sliced, slashed, burned, and incinerated its way through the remainder of the horde, Grimm falling apart, melting, or simply falling dead from the force of the blows all at once. Melting flesh, broken bones and missing limbs claimed victims just as easily as the deadly touch of metal against flesh. No less than twelve Beowolves were taken down in a few seconds. Honey paused once the riot of violence had died down. Her heart beat in her head as her Aura tingled around her. A haze hung around her eyes as her superhuman senses assessed the situation and found no remaining threat. No more Grimm. Honeydew had finally silence the horde.

The bodies of roughly fifty Grimm lied in various states of disintegration throughout the forest clearing. The entire skirmish must have lasted no more than several minutes, but it felt like hours. Honey grimaced as her the fire on the edge of her weapon died down to a comforting ember. A bead of sweat dropped slid down her cheek, strands of honey-blonde hair falling over her face. Her eyes, a burnt gold in colour, gazed out at the carnage around her with a dispassionate interest. She breathed in deeply, straightened her back, and carried on. She was going to find those relics. She didn't care how long it took or who she was going to be teamed up with. She would bear the burden alone if it meant she could escape the torment she had lived with for the past seventeen years.

She walked for a good hour, possibly two, through the thick greenery of the forest, encountering no Grimm, nor any sight of a fellow classmate. Honey had been keeping track of the time. It had been four hours since she had begun initiation. Four hours. She had no idea how long it usually took for people to find their partners, or to find the relics. She just hoped she wouldn't be _**last.**_

It was approaching midday when she found a set of footprints left in the muddy undergrowth. She snorted. This person clearly wasn't familiar with these sorts of environments as the tracks meandered about, seemingly hesitant and uncertain. Still, there was only one set of tracks, so hopefully that meant whoever made them was still alone, and without a partner. Honey contemplated playing it safe, sneaking up to observe her potential partner before introducing herself, but decided against it. A partner was a partner. Regardless of who they were, they were, most likely, skilled as a hunter. Besides, another weapon alongside her own wouldn't go amiss. Even if that weapon did have an unpleasant personality attached to it, she'd tolerate it. All she needed was to find someone, anyone, before moving on to finding the relics.

 _ **What seems like an unreasonable cost in the present can become an unexpected profit in the future. Trust in yourself and you'll find a way to turn a set-back into an advantage. Nothing is unprofitable, remember that Honeydew, nothing. All it takes is imagination.**_

She scrunched her face up as the unpleasant lessons of her father echoed in her mind. His attempts at raising her and her siblings in that archaic environment had done wonders to her sense of self and her individuality. It had also instilled a life-long hatred of her family name and everything it stood for. Her hands wrapped around her weapon even tighter as she begun to track the footprints downhill.

 _ **All it takes is imagination…**_

She snorted at the thought. She wandered if he'd regret saying those words.

 _ **One day,**_ Honey thought sadly. _ **One day, maybe. But that's not today.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Hellebore: Chapter 2

"The measure of a good person is to do good when they could easily do nothing"

Lavender Rask muttered bitterly to herself as she trudged her way through the thick forest. Her rifle kept getting snagged on tree branches and low-hanging vines, and everything below her waist was covered in a thick coat of mud. That incident with the Lurker hadn't been very enjoyable. The bloody thing looked like a log! How was she to know it was secretly an amphibious Grimm that was more like a mouth with legs than an actual animal!

Lavender sighed, and not for the first time that day, as her willowy purple cape fluttered in the breeze, caught on some branches, and tugged harshly on her shoulders as she tried to pull it loose. She tried to jerk it free, but it was firmly wedged in the branches. She was so preoccupied with this task that when she realized she could hear someone, or _**something**_ , approaching, she was incapable of reaching around to draw her weapon. It'd be embarrassing, she thought, to die while stuck to a tree. She'd be a footnote in the most humiliating ways an initiate had died. Not exactly the sort of thing she wanted to go down in history for…

"Need a hand?" Came a distinctly feminine voice. A very pleasant one at that. Lavender felt her face heat up in embarrassment as she turned pathetically and shrugged. At least, she tried to. She could only manage a half turn and a sort of weird angling of her right shoulder in the general direction of the speaker.

"Uh…if you wouldn't mind, that'd be fine." She said amicably, as if this was some ordinary, everyday interaction. Lavender turned enough to see the girl walking towards her.

 _ **Oh. Oh my. She is…she is…quite…attractive. Very attractive…hot damn.**_

Tall, blonde, dressed in a form-fitting equestrian-style gear worn under a pale-gold corset that showed just enough skin to be intriguing but not immodest, with dark leather pants and tall, fur-cuffed boots and matching gloves, this girl was hard not to appreciate. Lavender would probably give an even more detailed (and possibly indelicate) assessment of her were it not for the pressing matters at hand.

"You got a partner yet?" The girl asked. Lavender blinked. _**She's so...damn. Straight to it.**_

"Because if you do they aren't being very helpful."

Lavender slapped herself mentally. Partner, as in teammate. Not what she had in mind.

 _ **I am a massive idiot.**_

"No." She said, giving an answer to both questions in her mind. The girl had a small smile on her face as she helped Lavender untangle herself.

"Been happening all day. Really annoying." She grunted as she shook her cape free. "The name's Lavender. Lavender Rask."

She extended a hand to the girl, who looked down at it momentarily before taking it.

"Nice name." Lavender tried not to blush. "I'm Honeydew. But my friends call me Honey."

"I can imagine why…" She tried going for a jovial tone but cringed when she realised how rude it sounded. She felt like dying from embarrassment, _ **again**_ , and re-evaluated the most humiliating ways someone could die. Thankfully, the tall girl only nodded with a look of acceptance. A playful smile crossed her face.

"Yeah. I don't know why my parents would even think of that name…" Honey knew she was lying to herself. She knew perfectly well why.

"You know where we're supposed to go?" Lavender asked. Honey shrugged.

"If I'm being honest? No." She paused for a moment. "Do you?"

"Well, I think that I saw a structure in this direction- "She pointed vaguely downhill, in no general direction. "But I was falling from the sky, so I don't think I saw it clearly. Can't be too sure."  
Honey raised an eyebrow, and Lavender tried not to keep her expression neutral when she realized she really, _**really**_ liked that look.

"I didn't see anything on the way down. How did you? Semblance?"

Lavender nodded soundlessly.

"I can see more clearly with my Semblance. See things that other people can't. I process information much faster than normal. It's helpful."  
"I agree. Very helpful." Honey agreed easily. "You any good with that?" She said, pointing to Lavenders rifle.

"Reasonably so. Well, I haven't died yet, so I've got that going for me." She laughed weakly. Honey looked down at her clothes critically.

"It seems you lost a fight to a mud monster though." She smirked. Lavender looked down and felt her cheeks alight. _**Again**_ _._ She had momentarily forgotten how dirty she was. She decided to play it off.

"Nah. You should see the other guy." She waved her hand dismissively though the air, drawing a smile from Honey. Lavender laughed at her own stupid joke, but also at her own embarrassment.

"Care to join me?" She asked, with more confidence then she felt. Honey took one look around and nodded.

"Haven't got much else to choose from, do I?" She said simply. Lavender felt a little part of her die inside when she said that. Honey, seemingly sensing her disappointment, carried on.

"But I think that even if there were, I'd still choose you."

Lavender perked up immediately.

"Really?" _**Be professional! Be professional!**_ "I mean…uh…thanks!"

Honey smirked again, and Lavender resisted the urge to blurt her love for her right there and then. The two girls stared at each other for a moment or two before Honey raised her eyebrow again.

"Well? Lead on." She said playfully, slapping Lavender gently on her back. The pink-haired girl squeaked in surprise before she jumped into action, leading an increasingly bemused Honey to the supposed site of the relics.

As partners go, Honey had certainly found an interesting one.

As for Lavender, she was wandering how long it'd take for her partner to cease being her partner in only one sense of the word…

It'd be an interesting four years for the two of them, that was for sure. Lavender could already envision the sort of fun they'd have together and the experiences they'd share. It'd be quite the adventure.

Lavender and Honeydew would not be alone in these experiences however, and out there, somewhere, at this moment, were their other two teammates.

And they too were certainly going to be an interesting pair…


End file.
